A court injunction preventing the removal of a controversial monument in Richmond, Virginia, has been extended.
Circuit Judge Bradley Cavedo announced the extension Thursday after hearing arguments in a lawsuit against Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s executive plan to remove a monument dedicated to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
William Gregory, a descendant of two signatories to the deed that transferred the monument to the state in 1890, brought the suit against Northam after the governor announced his plans to remove the tribute. Amid mounting tension in the Virginia capital, Northam revealed plans to remove the monument on June 4, and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said that city was “no longer the capital of the Confederacy.”
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring objected to Thursday’s ruling and stated that he would do everything in his power to make sure the monument was replaced.
The Lee monument has been a rallying point for protesters in Richmond, who have defaced the 12-ton, 21-foot-tall monument with graffiti.
